Bridge Pose
How to Perform Setu Bandhasana
1. Start with lying on your back on the floor. You can keep a thickly folded blanket under your shoulders to support and protect your neck. Start with bending your knees and putting your feet on the ground, heels placed as close as possible to the sitting bones.
2. During exhalation, press your inner feet and arms into the ground, press your tailbone in the upwards direction towards the pubis, firm the buttocks gently (do not harden them) and pull up the buttocks off the floor. Place your thighs and inner feet parallel to each other. Place your hands below your pelvis and hold them. Extend through the arms so you can stay on the top of your shoulders.
3. Pull up your buttocks until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Place your knees directly over the heels; however, press them forward, away from the hips and stretch the tailbone toward the back of the knees. Pull up the pubis in the direction of the navel.
4. Pull up your chin, so it lies slightly away from the sternum. Keep your shoulder blades firmly pressed against your back and the top of your sternum against your chin. Firm your outer arms, stretch your shoulder blades and try to pull the space between them, located at the base of your neck (where it is on the blanket), into your body.
5. Hold in this pose from 30-60 seconds. Exhale and slowly release the pose while rolling down the spine on the ground.
Setu Bandhasana Benefits
Western Physiology
Setu Bandhasana has therapeutic effects on mental and physical health.
- Setu Bandhasana improves mental health:
- It helps in calming and relaxing the brain.
- It helps with insomnia (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It helps in alleviating the symptoms of stress, anxiety and mild depression (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- Setu Bandhasana stretches and strengthens the muscles:
- It helps in stretching the neck, chest and spine.
- It strengthens and extends the back (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It stretches the shoulders and opens the chest (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It helps in rejuvenating the tired legs.
- Other therapeutic effects of Setu Bandhasana include but are not limited to:
- It helps stimulate the lungs, thyroid gland and organs located in the abdominal region (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It helps in improving digestion (Verna et al., 2017).
- This pose in tandem with others, prevents the osteoporotic bone loss. It can also be used as a complementary treatment option for people with osteopenia and osteoporosis (Lu et al., 2016).
- It relieves the symptoms of menopause.
- It helps relieve the symptoms of menstrual discomfort; however, in this case, it should be supported by a blanket.
- It helps in reducing headache, fatigue and back pain (Guner & Inanici, 2015).
- It has therapeutic benefits in asthma, and high blood pressure cases (Santana et al., 2013; Cramer et al., 2018).
Yogic Physiology
This posture works udana vayu, the upward flowing prana or energy that governs both the mind and anatomical parts of the body from neck and shoulders to the head. Therefore, based on the flow of prana, this posture would care for the tight head, neck and shoulders, tinnitus, sinusitis, jaw restriction, TMJ, headaches, thyroid complaints and so on.
The two marma points around the neck that are most obviously affected are the krikatika marmas at the back of neck at the junction of the neck and head. Pressure on these points relieves tension at the back of the neck and improves pranic flow between heart and head.
Contradictions and Cautions
If you suffer from a neck injury, you should avoid this pose. In case you are performing this pose, then it is recommended that you practice it under the supervision of an experienced yoga trainer.
Preparatory Asanas
Follow up Asanas
Tips for Beginners
When the shoulders are rolled up, do not pull them with force from the ears. Otherwise, the neck will be constricted. Slightly lift the tops of your shoulders towards your ears and move your inner shoulder blades away from your spine.
Variations
Eka Pada Setu Bandha Sarvangasana:
As you exhale, lift your right knee to your torso, inhale and extend your leg perpendicular to the floor. Hold for 30 seconds, then release your leg back to the floor with an exhalation. Lock the leg again and repeat with the left leg for the same duration.
Modifications and Props
After lifting it off the floor, those who find it challenging to keep the pelvis elevated in this asana should insert a block or roller under the sacrum and place the pelvis on this support.
Deepen the Asana
Once in the asana, lift the heels off the floor and their tailbone a little closer to the pubis. Then, pull the heels back towards the ground from the lift of the tail.
References
Guner S, Inanici F. Yoga therapy and ambulatory multiple sclerosis Assessment of gait analysis parameters, fatigue and balance. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2015 Jan;19(1):72-81. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2014.04.004. Epub 2014 Apr 16.
Lu YH, Rosner B, Chang G, Fishman LM. Twelve-Minute Daily Yoga Regimen Reverses Osteoporotic Bone Loss. Top Geriatr Rehabil. 2016 Apr;32(2):81-87. doi: 10.1097/TGR.0000000000000085.
Verma A, Shete S, Kulkarni D, Bhogal RS. Effect of yoga practices on micronutrient absorption in urban residential school children. J Phys Ther Sci. 2017 Jul;29(7):1254-1258. doi: 10.1589/jpts.29.1254.
Cramer H, Sellin C, Schumann D, Dobos G. Yoga in Arterial Hypertension. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018 Dec 14;115(50):833-839. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2018.0833.
Santana MJ, S-Parrilla J, Mirus J, Loadman M, Lien DC, Feeny D. An assessment of the effects of Iyengar yoga practice on the health-related quality of life of patients with chronic respiratory diseases: a pilot study. Can Respir J. 2013 Mar-Apr;20(2):e17-23. doi: 10.1155/2013/265406.
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